Though not required, you may use a URITK page to gather your research for your final exam. The questions that you should address include:
What is the problem or issue?
We should be able to provide students with equal opportunities based on the funding of their schools. School funding has been a major problem within the United States in the past hundred years, as can be seen in a number of court cases. Rather than focus on student achievement, policy-makers need to focus on the learning process and factors that directly affect student achievement. At the root of this concept is the idea of financial equity. This brings up the question, How can we equitably resource and fund schools? Fortunately, there are a few current approaches that seek to help schools by providing students with equal opportunities, and not just equal achievement. It is possible to make changes to the current system, but there are many steps that need to be taken in order to yield the greatest benefit.
Why is this issue important?
This issue is important because students from poor families usually receive their education in the poorest schools. In chapter 2 of his book, Kozol states, "Wealthier schools had higher salaries so they were getting younger and better teachers and the poorer schools were getting the older teachers (p.54). These schools have fewer financial and material resources, and they are often unable to retain the most skilled administrators and teachers. Student achievement levels in these schools are significantly lower on virtually all measures than for students in suburban schools. Many researchers merely focus on student achievement or what the final outcome is. What they should focus on, however, is the ability for these students to achieve.
What is the historical roots of this problem? What has been tried in the past?
Since 1912, more than 30 states have challenged the constitutional integrity of their public school finance systems. The first of these occurred in 1973 in the federal court case San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez. The U.S. Supreme Court held that equal educational opportunity is not constitutionally guaranteed. Since then, litigation has been pursued at the state level.
What are the current approaches?
Before one can look at current approaches, the source of the funding must be clarified. Overall, local governments provide about 44 percent of funding, state governments about 50 percent, and the federal government about 6 percent of the total. The traditional process of allocating all local, state, and federal funds to a school district makes it difficult to determine how much money actually arrives at any individual school. In many states and districts, funding formulas are still utilizing historical approaches that no longer meet student needs. In some regions, educational funding relies on the local property tax as the primary funding source, which dates back to the late 19th century. Even at a higher tax rate, poorer communities, already disadvantaged in terms of resources, cannot generate funding comparable to their wealthier neighbors. As a result, some districts create additional local revenue through other means. user fees for special programs, general funds from county or city governments, vehicle excise taxes, local income taxes, and local sales taxes. Although these mechanisms may be more politically “safe”in some cases, they still don't guarantee steady and equitable finance, and may in fact be more difficult to predict from year to year.
How does this problem/issue relate to RI schools? Is there evidence of a connection to the schools/districts/communities that we researched earlier?
What are your views, opinions, concerns, or solutions related to the problem?
We should be able to provide students with equal opportunities based on the funding of their schools. School funding has been a major problem within the United States in the past hundred years, as can be seen in a number of court cases. Rather than focus on student achievement, policy-makers need to focus on the learning process and factors that directly affect student achievement. At the root of this concept is the idea of financial equity. This brings up the question, How can we equitably resource and fund schools? Fortunately, there are a few current approaches that seek to help schools by providing students with equal opportunities, and not just equal achievement. It is possible to make changes to the current system, but there are many steps that need to be taken in order to yield the greatest benefit.
This issue is important because students from poor families usually receive their education in the poorest schools. In chapter 2 of his book, Kozol states, "Wealthier schools had higher salaries so they were getting younger and better teachers and the poorer schools were getting the older teachers (p.54). These schools have fewer financial and material resources, and they are often unable to retain the most skilled administrators and teachers. Student achievement levels in these schools are significantly lower on virtually all measures than for students in suburban schools. Many researchers merely focus on student achievement or what the final outcome is. What they should focus on, however, is the ability for these students to achieve.
Since 1912, more than 30 states have challenged the constitutional integrity of their public school finance systems. The first of these occurred in 1973 in the federal court case San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez. The U.S. Supreme Court held that equal educational opportunity is not constitutionally guaranteed. Since then, litigation has been pursued at the state level.
Before one can look at current approaches, the source of the funding must be clarified. Overall, local governments provide about 44 percent of funding, state governments about 50 percent, and the federal government about 6 percent of the total. The traditional process of allocating all local, state, and federal funds to a school district makes it difficult to determine how much money actually arrives at any individual school. In many states and districts, funding formulas are still utilizing historical approaches that no longer meet student needs. In some regions, educational funding relies on the local property tax as the primary funding source, which dates back to the late 19th century. Even at a higher tax rate, poorer communities, already disadvantaged in terms of resources, cannot generate funding comparable to their wealthier neighbors. As a result, some districts create additional local revenue through other means. user fees for special programs, general funds from county or city governments, vehicle excise taxes, local income taxes, and local sales taxes. Although these mechanisms may be more politically “safe”in some cases, they still don't guarantee steady and equitable finance, and may in fact be more difficult to predict from year to year.